Looking to treat yourself to a seaside escape on the Gold Coast?
Searching for your next favourite holiday destination that has glorious beaches, cafes and restaurants, and is only 9 minutes away from the David Fleay Wildlife Park?
Of course you are! You’re not an animal, and you deserve nice things.
In this post, I’ll take you on a tour of a superior ocean view unit at the beautiful Burleigh Esplanade Holiday Apartments.
We’ll marvel at the waves from our private wrap-around balcony; breathe in some good oxygen piped in just for us direct from the sea; people-watch from the heady-heights of our ocean-front manor, and seriously consider if we also need some fake golden pears for our dining table at home.
Also, we might need a dining table.
Last month we were invited to help a treasured friend celebrate their own birth (not as gross as it sounds) by spending 3 nights on the glorious Gold Coast at Burleigh Heads, Queensland. We usually default to Sunshine Coast accommodation when booking our get-a-ways, so this was a great opportunity to check out what the Gold Coast has to offer in terms of ocean-front stays. To say we were delighted, is an understatement.
Burleigh Esplanade Apartments are located just across the road from Burleigh Beach, where you can have a picnic with a seagull or celebrate your friend’s aging with an iced-cream on the grassy verge.
A short walk from the apartments will take you to the cafe district, where you can get any type of food that you like, as long as it’s available on one of the restaurant menus and you go there when they are open.
If you’re desperate to go to K-Mart for some reason, or are in the need of a new blouse to wear to show off to that seagull you met earlier – there are a number of shopping centres not too far away.
For all your short-stay supermarket needs, there’s a Coles up the road where you can grab some milk and holiday biscuits – about a 20 minute walk if you want to stretch your pins after a long days drive.
We arrived on a Wednesday, and booked in for a 3 night stay. The check-in process was simple and the staff on the front desk were pleasant and helpful. We stayed in Unit 34 on Level 17 – one of the closest water views we’ve had in a while – right on the beach front. Woo hoo!
One undercover secure parking space is allocated per apartment, and accessed by the driveway near reception – perfect to house your Suzuki Swift. The room fob will get you in and out of the car park – much like how I envision Batman gets out of his Bat cave.
Once you stop marvelling at the car park, you can head up to your room and gush over the ocean views! Go – go now! I’ll hold the lift doors.
Our first impression of the unit was that it was huge – and OMG the ocean is amazing! Plenty of space for activities both in and out of the sea.
The wonderful human on Reception had advised us that we were booked into a 2 bedroom unit, which we proved with our own eyes when we started to explore. We had only paid for a 1 bedroom unit, and they just asked us to choose one bedroom and leave the other one alone. I imagine there’d be an extra bedding/cleaning cost otherwise. Or maybe there was a ghost in it, who knows.
The front balcony overlooks Burleigh Heads Beach and Megalodon’s house (otherwise known as the ocean). Look one way and you can spy on Surfers Paradise. Look another way and you can see the coastline to Coolangatta – so many choices! The balconies off the bedrooms look out over the Gold Coast Hinterland, so you’re never wanting for a nice view.
The balcony is sectioned into 3 portions – with 2 smaller walls acting as wind breaks which is a genius idea as I generally prefer not to be blown off a balcony. There are ample tables and chairs which we utilised to have a cuppa and a supermarket Portuguese tart, while we snooped on the people and birds below us.
A sun-lounger is also provided, and a smaller seat and bbq on the third balcony portion – I tell you this as I can feel that you’re a seating connoisseur and wouldn’t be able to settle otherwise. Let’s go inside again, to calm your nerves.
From the main door as you enter the unit, to your left is a giant cockatoo or parrot. Thankfully it’s just a picture as I’m sure he’d demand a tribute in seed if he was real. There’s a couch and smaller lounge area which we can only assume is where families make their children sit if they’re holidaying here.
There are HEAPS of cupboards – I got a bit tired snooping in them all to be honest, but definitely lots of space to put away all your stuff.
The main living room has 3 good sized and comfortable couches, so it’s never necessary to fight with your loved ones for the ‘good spot’. Anywhere you sit will have you facing the ocean – unless of course you go into the bathroom or sit on the floor of the kitchen or put yourself in one of the many cupboards. Why are you doing that anyway? We’re on holiday – stop being so weird.
If you want to rest your eyes on something other than the ocean, there’s a big TV in the lounge room. We don’t tend to watch much TV when we’re away, but do like to put something on when we’re eating as I can’t stand the sound of anyone (including myself) chewing. Thankfully either the owners or the last holiday-makers had left their Netflix available so we watched a bit of David Attenborough and learned some facts about the jungle.
I have since forgotten all the facts.
The kitchen is also spacious and comes with tea and coffee facilities and all the kitchen utensils/gadgets you could ask for. One of the tea towels was fancied into a neck-tie, which I thought about a lot and felt bad using, but then felt bad feeling bad as it had gone to considerable effort to impress me.
The tap water didn’t taste funny, which is good – so stay hydrated as you gawp at the view. Open mouths dry out quicker. Fact.
A dining table is provided for you to dine on – or to write on. I took a lot of notes at the table, much the same way as I imagine Stephen King writes his best sellers – sitting low in a rented dining chair and thinking about a too-dressy tea towel.
There are some golden pears on the dining room table – display only. Buy your own pears for eating.
The master bedroom has a king bed and again plenty of cupboards. I used one of the cupboards to throw the display cushions into, and felt better that (a) the cushions and foot rug were out of sight and (b) that something was in one of the cupboards.
I also checked every single cupboard to make sure that there wasn’t a person crouched in any of them. Why I did that, is something that I might need to examine in a future post.
Near the princess side of the bed (my side) was a full spare power board, so I could happily plug in my phone and laptop during the night – safe in the knowing that I could wake up and watch YouTube at any point. I didn’t though.
The ensuite off the main room which was (gasp) huge again – was clean and tidy, and free of fish, as is our preference. The window blind was coming apart a bit, but I didn’t spend my time staring at that. Why am I writing about it now then? For grit. For atmosphere. For you, dear reader. For you.
We had a wonderful sleep and the bed was super cosy, helping us to snooze without the usual first night jitters in a new place. We continued to sleep like well-rested millionaires, for the rest of the trip.
The shower was nice and hot, and you weren’t locked into using the hipster rain shower head if you didn’t want to. The foot well takes a while to drain out, but doesn’t overflow and lets you splash around. I note the splashing, as we have stayed in many a holiday room where your shower-water flows directly onto the rest of the floor. No flood worries, here – friends. Shower on!
The spare bedroom, which we didn’t snooze in – just stared at – was just to your right as you entered the unit. Two twin beds for the ghosts to use as they see fit. Next to that, are a second shower and toilet combined with laundry – very useful if you’re staying more than a few days and need to clean yo’self.
It was gorgeous waking up to the sun over the ocean – however remember to grab your sunnies as you greet the day. The sun bounces off the water and tries to burn out your retinas. Once it calms down, you can open the main blind and eat your muesli in peace.
We really enjoyed our stay at the Burleigh Esplanade Holiday Apartments, and we think that you will too.
I took a bunch of photos over the 3 days, as everything was just so beautiful to look at. The amount of times I shook my head and waved my arms about in gratitude, were many. When a bird came on to our balcony and sang me a song, that was the icing on the salty cake.
Be well friends – and if you decide to book at the Burleigh Esplanade apartments, tell them we miss them.
